


The Road to Ruin

by pipermack



Category: From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, F/M, No culebras au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-22
Updated: 2015-10-22
Packaged: 2018-04-27 15:04:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5053405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pipermack/pseuds/pipermack
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompted by chadaras on tumblr: seth/kate no culebras au where kate is the hostage they grab from the bank </p><p>And because I’m SethKate trash, I complied.</p><p>Read on Tumblr at jupiterjonesing.tumblr.com/tagged/piper-writes-shit</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Road to Ruin

“Shit.” Seth tightened his grip on the wheel, glancing in the rear view mirror when the thumping started up again. 

Richie looked towards the backseat, shaking his head. “We’re never gonna make the border, not with her back there making all that racket.” 

“Well that wouldn’t have been a problem if you hadn’t brought her, now would it?” Seth countered, glancing at his brother then looking in the rear view mirror again. He took another swig from the bottle next to him, and looked back to the road, stepping on the gas just a little more. 

Richie grumbled under his breath, slumping in his seat and pouting. “If I hadn’t’ve brought her, we’d have been mist on the side of that bank and you know it.” 

“We don’t take hostages, Richard! And this is exactly why!” Seth slammed his hand against the steering wheel. “It gets messy! And complicated! Do you even fucking remember Tucson?” 

“Tacoma–” 

“Not the point!” 

It was silent for a moment, the tension thick as Richie played with his duct tape bandage and Seth fumed to himself. The girl in the trunk started thumping again though, trying to scream around her makeshift gag. “We have to get rid of her,” Richie finally said. “Pull over.” 

Seth scoffed, shaking his head. “She’s a kid, Richard. And a civilian. We’re not just gonna ‘get rid of her’. Jesus Christ.” “Shut her up at least then,” Richie said. “At least until we can get to a place we can lay low.” 

Seth rolled his eyes, knowing his brother was correct. They wouldn’t be able to make another stop, let alone make a run for the border. Not with the girl making all that sound. A minute later, he pulled off to the side of the road, looking at his brother again. “Stay here.” 

“But I can–” 

But Seth was already out of the car, the slamming door cutting off Richie’s protests. He walked around to the trunk and, not seeing or hearing signs of anyone around, he popped it open. 

— 

Kate sighed, pulling the ball cap down lower and gripped her purse as she walked towards the bank entrance. She went over the plan again in her mind, smiling nervously at the security guard as she walked in. This was gonna be a quick trip, in and out. She’d empty her account, toss her phone, and hit the road. By the time her dad or her brother realized she left, if they did, she’d already be halfway to Cabo. 

— 

But instead, she found herself tied up in the back of a smelly old car, kidnapped by the men who’d taken her hostage when they held up the bank. She had no idea where they were at this point, but she knew they’d stopped and that there’d been some sort of explosion and then they’d moved again. She’d kicked and screamed as much as she could, but nobody heard. Nobody came. 

The car stopped again and she kicked even harder, trying to scream around the tie she was gagged with. When the trunk opened and light flooded in, she blinked a few times until she could see again and scowled at the man standing over her and aiming a gun at her head. “Alright Princess, you and I need to have a little chat,” he said. The car door opened and the man looked up, sighing when he saw his brother walking back. “I thought I told you to stay in the car, Richard,” he grumbled. “I–” 

And then her phone rang. 

Everyone paused for a second and the first guy sighed again. “I thought you grabbed her phone, Seth,” the other one, Richard, replied, coming over and peering into the trunk. 

“Yeah, me too,” Seth replied. He reached down, patting her purse and then her pockets until he found it. He slid the phone out of the pocket on her shorts, handing it back to Richie, who threw it on the ground and stomped on it. Seth looked down at the girl, shrugging. “That was your last lifeline, Princess,” he said. “Now you have a few options here, alright? Nod if you comprende.” Kate whimpered but nodded reluctantly. “Good. One–” Seth counted on his hand. “We leave you tied up right here on this road and continue on our merry way, and you can pray that a passerby will find you and maybe, maybe, get you back to civilization. Two–You shut up and sit still, and we’ll leave you at the next stop we make, maybe with some food in you and maybe with enough change for a phone call. Three–” 

“Seth, c'mon, we need to go–” 

“Shut up Richard!” Seth said, holding a finger up to silence him. He looked back at the girl and smiled. “Three–My brother puts you out of your misery and we leave your body in a ditch over there.” 

“Whoa whoa, why do I have to do it? What happened to not getting rid of her?” Richie protested. 

Seth groaned in exasperation and looked over at his brother. “You got us into this fucking mess. You grabbed the fucking girl. If we get rid of her, it’s your fucking problem,” he said. “Now.” He looked back to the girl and smiled again. “I’m going to take these restraints off, and if you try to scream or run, we’ll jump straight to option three. Got it?” Kate whimpered and nodded again and Seth reached into the trunk, pulling the makeshift gag away. “Now, which option seems most appealing to you, Princess?” 

Kate frowned, swallowing hard. “The uh… The second one,” she breathed. “Please don’t hurt me.” 

“I won’t hurt you,” Seth replied. “Not if you play nicely, got it?” She nodded. “Okay. Do you want to stretch your legs?” he asked, pulling out his pocket knife and leaning down to cut the duct tape binding the girl’s legs. 

Kate nodded. “Please…” 

“Seth, I don’t think–” 

“No, you don’t,” Seth interrupted, looking up at his brother. “Shut up and get back in the car.” Richie frowned but sulked away, getting back into the passenger’s seat and slamming the door. Rolling his eyes, Seth helped the girl out then turned her to cut the tape off her hands. He kept both her hands restrained with one of his while he slipped the knife back into his pocket. “You gonna run?” She shook her head. “You sure?” She nodded. Seth let go and brushed his hands off on his pants. “You’ve got sixty seconds, then we’re going, with or without you.” 

Kate frowned but nodded. She stretched her arms above her head, then hurried to pull her shirt down where it had risen up. Seth leaned against the car, watching her carefully. “What’s your name?” He asked. 

“Kate,” she replied simply. “You’re the Geckos, aren’t you?” 

Seth glanced towards his brother in the car then back to Kate. “Yeah, guess our reputation precedes us.” 

“I never heard of the Gecko Brothers murdering anyone,” she said, eyeing Seth warily as she stretched her legs. “Not bystanders, anyway. Like those tellers.” 

Seth frowned, nodding. “We try not to,” he said. “Richard gets outta hand sometimes. Thinks he’s Lee Marvin or Clint Eastwood.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “You’re uh…. Don’t piss him off, alright? We’ll dump you at the next motel or truck stop or whatever and we can all go our separate ways.” 

Kate nodded, pulling her shirt down again. Kidnapping hadn’t been a part of her plan, but at least she was out of Abilene. At least she had a head start. 

“Sixty seconds are up, Princess. Let’s go.” He pushed off the car and opened the door, pushing his seat down. “Get in.” 

Richie frowned. ”Seth, what–“ 

“I’m not throwing her back in the trunk,” he replied. “Besides, she promised to behave.” He looked over at Kate. “You coming?” 

Kate bit her lip. She glanced up road then back to Seth, nodding once. “Yeah, let’s go.” 

— 

When they parked in the motel lot a few hours later, Seth slipped out of the car and folded the seat down, holding a hand out to Kate. She ignored it, pulling herself out of the car and stretching again. “Where are we?” She asked. 

Seth shrugged. “Not quite to El Paso. C'mon.“ He waited for Richie to grab the duffel with their money out of the trunk then led them up to their room. They’d decided (well, Seth decided, Richie complied) that they’d need to stop for the night and that the girl may as well stay with them, at least until the next day, or else she’d rat them out and cops would be on them in no time. So now, Seth was leading them all up to their shared room for the evening. 

"I’m gonna hit the shower, try and clean this up,” Richie announced, setting the bag aside and holding his hand up. 

“Don’t take too long, two other people out here, Richard,” Seth replied. Richie just waved him off and Seth went over to the mini fridge, pulling out one of the small bottles. “You want one?” He asked, holding it up. 

Kate shook her head, sitting on the edge of the bed. “I…. I don’t drink,” she mumbled. “I mean I had a glass of champagne at a cousin’s wedding one time but…” 

“Oh, a real deviant aren’t you, sweetheart?” Seth teased. “You’re what, sixteen? Seventeen?” He sat on the other bed, kicking his feet up and knocking back the small bottle of Jack. 

Kate scoffed. “I’m nearly nineteen. And don’t call me that,” she pouted, eyeing him with disdain. “I wanna go for a swim.” 

Seth smirked. “Yeah right. So you can go run and tell the first person you see that the infamous Gecko Brothers are holed up in here?” He shook his head. “No dice, Princess. You can fill up the tub and splash around when Richie’s done if you want though.” 

Kate frowned, folding her arms in front of herself. “I won’t tell,” she said. “Cmon, it’s like a hundred degrees outside, and a hundred and ten in this room. You can even come supervise.” 

Seth thought for a moment. He knew it was risky, letting her out, going outside the motel room at all. But the sun was setting and he could almost definitely run faster than her… He peeked out the window and saw that there was nobody at the pool, and sighed. “Fine. But it’s not like either of us has a suit…” 

Kate shrugged. “I just want to stick my feet in, at least,” she said. She stood and grabbed a towel, tossing one to Seth. 

He grabbed it and slipped off the bed, nodding to the door. “You get ten minutes.” 

“Thirty,” Kate countered, raising her eyebrow. 

“Fifteen, and I don’t shoot you.” 

Kate rolled her eyes. “Fine, come on,” she said, walking past Seth and out to the pool. He followed along closely, sitting in a chair near the edge of the water. Kate laid the towel out and sat on it. She slipped her sandals off and dipped her feet into the water, sighing happily. “Not exactly how I saw today going,” she mumbled, letting her head fall back and her eyes close. 

“Oh? And how did you see today going?” Seth asked, trying not to stare too obviously at the girl in front of him. She wasn’t even nineteen. And she was their hostage. He shook his head and sighed. They were bank robbers, not deviants, after all. 

Kate looked over her shoulder, shrugging. “Not like this,” she replied. “I just wanted to get my money and get outta town.” 

Seth chuckled. “I know the feeling,” he teased. “What are you running from?” 

Kate frowned, looking back to the water. “I’m not running,” she said. “I just….. need to get away.” 

“Hate to break it to you honey, but that’s the definition of running,” Seth replied. “C’mon, you’re never gonna see me again after today. Spill. Crazy ex? Default on your student loans? Drugs?” 

“Leave it alone,” Kate grumbled. 

“So drugs huh?” Seth replied with a smirk. “How hard we talkin’? you gonna start jonesing and—” 

“I said leave it!” Kate snapped. “I don’t owe you anything. Just let me rest a minute before you drag me back into that damned room.” 

Seth frowned, opting not to respond. He leaned back against the chair, sighing. After a while, he glanced at his watch. “C’mon, time’s up,” he said, standing. “Let’s head back.” 

Kate sighed and stood, drying her feet off and slipping her sandals back on. “…I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “I shouldn’t have snapped.” 

Seth shook his head. “Yeah well, I pried,” he said. “C’mon, before Richie freaks out.” 

Frowning, Kate nodded and followed along. Walking back into the room, Richie looked up from where he was sitting on the bed, wrapping his hand in strips of a towel. “Where the hell did you go?” 

“Relax, Richard, she just wanted to dip her feet in the water.” 

“Are you insane? You could have been seen!” 

Seth rolled his eyes. “We weren’t. And it’s a thousand degrees in here.” He looked at Kate. “Hurry up,” he said, nodding towards the shower. 

Kate gripped her towel and hurried into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. The water kicked on a minute later and Richie looked to Seth, who had tossed his jacket aside and taken up residence on one of the beds, flipping through channels. “What the hell, Seth? You going soft on her?” 

Seth rolled his eyes. “No, I’m just being a decent human being,” he said, rolling the sleeves up on his shirt. “I’m not the one who fucking kidnapped her, Richard. And if at least one of us isn’t a total dick, maybe she’ll take it a little easier on us when she eventually runs to the police!” 

Richie sighed, shaking his head. “You’ve lost your mind,” he said. “C’mon, we should just leave now before she gets out.” Seth rolled his eyes again. “No,” he replied simply. “Now go get us some tacos or, I dunno, figure out how to get us across the fucking border.” 

Richie scowled but nodded. “Fine. I think Uncle Eddie has a contact nearby. I’ll see what I can find.” He grabbed a key card and slipped out of the hotel room without another word, door slamming behind him. 

Seth groaned, flopping back on the bed, rubbing a hand over his face. Maybe Richie was right, they should have just snuck across the border or something, left the girl behind. But…. Kate didn’t even seem to want to leave. He didn’t really see her as a huge threat at this point. Maybe he really was going soft on her… 

Hearing the water turn off, Seth glanced at the bathroom then looked back at the tv. A minute later, Kate came out, redressed and drying her hair off. “All yours,” she said softly, perching on the other bed, facing Seth. 

“No chance, Princess,” he said. “I’m not leaving you alone. I’ll just… wait.” 

Kate rolled her eyes. “I’m not gonna run,” she said. “I don’t have anywhere to go. Hell, I don’t even know if anyone is looking for me.” 

Seth raised an eyebrow. “The Gecko Brothers kidnapped you, I’m sure at least someone out there is looking.” 

Kate shook her head, combing her fingers through her hair. 

“You give the people of Abilene too much credit, Seth Gecko,” she said with a weak smile. 

Seth raised an eyebrow, about to ask when he thought better of it. He shrugged instead, going back to flipping through the channels. 

“You ever spend time in Abilene?” Kate asked after a few minutes. “Besides the whole bank robbing thing.” 

Seth shook his head. “Can’t say that I have,” he replied, glancing over at her. 

“There’s not a lot to see, or do for that matter” she mumbled. “Not if you aren’t a tourist. You either shoot guns or you shoot up, or both.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “My momma opted for the latter,” she said softly after another minute. “She overdosed a few months back. I found her body.” 

Seth sat up a little more, frowning. “Shit, that’s rough.” 

Kate shrugged. “That was the easy part. At least I knew she wasn’t suffering anymore. But now my brother deals and my dad’s a drunk. I haven’t even seen Scott in two weeks. He could be dead too for all I know.” 

“So what, you’re looking for him?” 

Kate shook her head. “My dad uh… gets angry when he drinks sometimes. Beat me up pretty good before passing out. I just couldn’t…. I had to get out. Thought I’d make it to Cabo, at least but…. well, here I am.” She gave a half-hearted chuckle and shook her head. “How’s that for tragic backstory, Seth Gecko?” 

Seth shrugged. “It’s a good one,” he replied. “Might even be up there with mine.” 

“Oh?” 

Seth smiled, shaking his head. “I’m not drunk enough for that, Princess,” he replied. “Nice try though.” 

Kate sighed, stretching back on the bed, looking over at Seth. “C’mon. What are you running from?” she asked. 

“Besides literally running from the police?” he teased. “Nothing. Just trying to get to the next payoff.” 

— 

Early the next morning, Seth startled awake when he felt someone shake his shoulder, instantly reaching for his gun and pointing it at his attacker. When he finally registered what was going on and saw that Richie was at the other end, he sighed. “What now, Richard?” He asked, setting the gun aside and flopping back down. 

Richie pointed to the empty bed next to theirs. “The girl’s gone,” he said. 

Seth rubbed his eyes, looking over. “Fuck…” He sighed, rubbing his face and sitting up. “I thought you had the last watch.” 

Richie shook his head, starting to pace. “No, you did, Sleeping Beauty,” he said. “And now she’s fucking gone.” 

Seth sighed, climbing out of bed, pulling his slacks on. “Look, just—” The bathroom door opened and Seth looked up at his brother, smirking. "You’re an idiot, Richard.” 

Kate looked up, realizing she’d interrupted something. “Sorry. I uh… Wanted to wash my face. That’s all.” She glanced at Seth who had just started to pull his shirt on, blushing as she looked away. “I told you I wouldn’t run.” 

Seth patted Richie’s shoulder as he walked by. “Yeah, you did Princess.” He walked past her into the bathroom, coming out a minute later to only Kate sitting on the bed, pulling her hair up. “Where’s my brother?” 

Kate shrugged. “Said something about horchata and your contact then left.” 

Sighing, Seth sat on the other bed, rubbing the back of his neck. “Sorry about him. Like I said, he just gets…. Carried away sometimes.” 

Kate shrugged. “I don’t mind it,” she said. “I mean, I do mind it, but I get it, I guess.” 

Seth considered her carefully for a moment. “Why didn’t you run?” he asked finally. “You’ve had plenty of opportunity to.” 

“I told you, I don’t have anywhere to go,” she said. “I have five hundred dollars to my name and no family besides this cross.” She held up her necklace, looking down at it. 

Seth shrugged. “There’s always the police. I hear there’s a pretty sizable reward out for Los Hermanos Geckos.” 

Kate shook her head, looking back up at Seth. “You guys aren’t worth as much as you’d think,” she teased with a smile. 

“Oh, is that so?” He teased, slipping his shoes on. 

Kate just chuckled. “Yeah, that’s so,” she replied. 

“Listen, I–” the door opened and Seth looked up as his brother walked in. 

“Cmon, we gotta go,” Richie said. “We’re meeting with Uncle Eddie’s contact.” 

Seth sighed, nodding. He looked over at Kate as she stood, shoving her hands into her pockets. “See you around, Princess,” he said, nodding once. 

They turned and headed for the door when Kate followed after. “Seth, wait…” She said. Seth turned to look at her, Richie letting out a noise of aggravation. “I um, I can speak Spanish,” she said. “And I can talk my way around most situations. And I have a passport.” 

“No way in hell, sweetheart,” Richie said, tugging Seth outside, Kate following along anyway. “Seth, kick your puppy dog to the curb. We gotta go.” 

Seth shook out of Richie’s grasp, looking down at Kate. “Hold on, Richard, let’s hear her out.” 

Kate furrowed her brow but nodded. “I just want to get to Cabo,” she said. “Get me that far and I won’t say a word to anyone.” She looked at Seth with pleading in her eyes. “Cmon, don’t you guys want some company?” 

Seth smirked, nodding, ignoring Richie’s protests. “Yeah.” 


End file.
